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we are the people
album review
by erin thursby    scopes1925@msn.com

Artist: Guitar Shorty

Title: We the People

Release Date: 08.15.06

Label: Alligator Records

      Kick it back with some tight and skillful blues when you listen to Guitar Shorty’s newest album, We the People. Or you could listen to the man himself at Jack Rabbits on May 3rd. Even if you see him live, you’ll probably want to take away some of that blues for those lonely evenings and long road trips. Shorty’s albums have been few, but they’re worth the purchase price for an intense, rough-edged serving of the blues. Soaring guitars rock this CD in a way that makes it easy to understand why Jimi Hendrix used to sneak off-base when he was in the military, just to hear Guitar Shorty.

      The lyrics in most of the songs concern some bad woman who has done the singer wrong. It’s not incredibly original or inspiring, but the passion and skill behind the music makes you overlook the lyrics. He’s a tad over-the-top, singing, “I got your number and it’s 666” about a woman who apparently didn’t deserve his affections, but it’s some damn hot smoking blues, even if it isn’t restrained. “Who Needs a Woman Like You?” Shorty asks, later in the album, after recounting the lady’s cheating ways. Shorty answers “I tell you I do” with almost a quiet shame in some places. You can’t help but feel the man’s blues.

      But he isn’t always banking on women to provide him with blues topics. ‘Blues in My Blood’ recounts Shorty’s life in the blues with a throbbing bass-line. ‘Cost of Livin’’ and ‘We the People’ turn towards politics and poverty as blues-worthy subjects.

      Tell you what, if you want to know what the blues can really do, from those slow soulful tunes to those on the rockin’ edge, it’s time to pick up this album and give it a listen.

      Guitar Shorty will be performing at Jack Rabbits here in Jacksonville on May 3rd.

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